Hi, I'm Jonathan. AKA, JS the WLD.
I make stories with Words, Music, Code.
“JS the WLD is the real deal. An authentic, refreshing Southern voice.”
Kathryn Aalto, New York Times bestselling author
01 — The thread between old and new
I write about music, technology, culture, and the American South. The unexpected ways they show up in our lives, how that shapes something else, that shapes something else… turtles all the way down.
You can find my work in places like MTV.com and Substack.
02 — Performing Artist
“Imagine Little Feat and Bleachers made a record together. That's JS the WLD.”
New EP Long Way to Run, produced by Cruz Contreras, out in 2027 on Baked Alaska Records.
03 — Generative Art
I make digital installations that trace influence over time.
The newest piece is The Lomax Trail: a hundred and fifty years of American song drawn off of one trailhead, where almost everything you hear flows back up to a Lomax field recording.
04 — Years in the making
The Sound of Something More is the premier literary work from JS the WLD, who with high wit and wisdom likens the ineffable nature of song to the sacred power felt in dreams or prayer.
It weaves personal narrative, cultural history, and philosophical inquiry into how a song travels, mouth to wax to tape to air, shaping who we are and leaving patterns that ripple across generations.
05 — About JS the WLD
I live in Nashville, but I grew up in the same East Tennessee mountains that gave us Dolly Parton.
I'm an endless creative who had to learn a lot of ways to keep food on the table. Public school teacher, touring musician, award-winning software entrepreneur, blockchain and AI expert. Along the way I picked up an MTV O Music Award, a Guinness World Record, and a Napster download history I still won't own up to.
I'm obsessed with carrying the best of our old ways into the best of the new ones, without losing what makes us human.
More about Jonathan
Most Saturdays
Free, and short enough for one cup of coffee. Leave your name and I'll meet you there Saturday.
Read the letterJS the WLD — the pen name of Jonathan Sexton — East Tennessee, by way of Nashville
